We were out in the yard this morning, boys were wrestling/playing/fetching the ball... I was sitting on the porch steps watching them. Down the street comes an old guy w/a cane, and when he started walking really close to our fence the boys ran over to "investigate", and let out a few soft woofs. By no means were they threatening or menacing... I think they were mostly curious, especially since the guy chose to walk in the grassy area right next to our fence instead of on the side walk. Anyway... the man apparently felt threatened for some reason, because he started waving his cane at the dogs while yelling at them to "get". I called for both of them to come to me, and they both started to run toward me at full speed... until Sepp made a sharp turn right in front of me... and took a flying leap over our six feet high fence, with room to spare. I grabbed Faust and shoved him in the house, and by the time I got back outside Sepp was barking and circling the guy, and the guy was trying to poke at him w/his cane. I yelled for Sepp to "come" (he ignored me) while yelling at the same time at the guy to stop trying to hit my dog (he ignored me, too), but when I got close enough... Sepp stopped barking/circling - sat down, and waited for me so I could grab him.I apologized to the man, got Sepp back in the house, and poured myself a hefty portion of rum in my tea. WTF?????I also half expected the cops to show up, but they didn't...

Even w/all this going on I noticed a couple of things - Sepp never once growled, his hackles weren't raised, and his tail was at "half-mast" and wagging. It looked to me like he was trying to "herd" the guy away from the house/fence rather than wanting to attack/bite him. I know if he had wanted to hurt him - he could have. This dog has been around TONS of people lately (because of vet visits and chemo), and he is usually not leery of strangers, nor is he overly cautious or protective to the point of showing any aggression.He'll sometimes bark at people who approach the house/yard to talk to me, but usually settles down immediately when told to do so.I have NO idea what possessed him to jump the fence this morning... (and as bad as it sounds - it WAS a beautiful sight to see him fly over it so easily... )

I do realize that this behavior is "dangerous" and unacceptable - I already dug out his long lead, and he'll be attached to that (and me) from now on until I can figure out what to do about my fence. I never in a million years thought that either of my dogs could clear a six foot fence that effortless (and so graceful, at that)... but knucklehead never seizes to amaze me when it comes to keeping me on my toes.

Not that I condone his actions, but I'm betting this is a one time thing.

What you're describing kind of sounds like "antagonistic old person syndrome" - it seems very familiar to me, and I'm not sure why but it seems like something some elderly people do. (you were mentioning walking as close as possible, and waving the cane around) I'm totally being serious. Take my Grandmother, she'll be visiting and my parent's dog will be sleeping in the middle of the floor, where she needs to walk; instead of talking to the dog or asking someone to move her, she kicks the dog Talk about a good way to get bit! She just doesn't get how to handle them.

anyway, maybe you could attach a strip of chicken wire on smaller stakes attached to the fence poles for the fence?

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
_______________________________________
"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

Not that I condone his actions, but I'm betting this is a one time thing.

What you're describing kind of sounds like "antagonistic old person syndrome" - it seems very familiar to me, and I'm not sure why but it seems like something some elderly people do. (you were mentioning walking as close as possible, and waving the cane around) I'm totally being serious. Take my Grandmother, she'll be visiting and my parent's dog will be sleeping in the middle of the floor, where she needs to walk; instead of talking to the dog or asking someone to move her, she kicks the dog Talk about a good way to get bit! She just doesn't get how to handle them.

anyway, maybe you could attach a strip of chicken wire on smaller stakes attached to the fence poles for the fence?

Oh, I completely agree... what an asinine thing to do to provoke two dogs by waving a cane at them and yelling, for no good reason...

Still, under the law here it wouldn't matter, and Sepp could/would be considered "dangerous". They could confiscate and euthanize him, just for "appearing to threaten" a person.I have no doubt that he could've bitten/hurt that guy - IF he had wanted to. I'm grateful that at least Sepp showed some restraint while waiting for me to kick some old-man-ass...

I have no qualms about bringing him around people/strangers at all, despite of how he acted this morning. I think it was a misguided attempt at protecting us from danger on our own property (the grassy strip is "ours", too... ), and Sepp showed enough self-control for me to completely trust him.I don't trust him not to jump the fence again, now that he knows he can - so, for his own protection he'll go out on-lead only until I figure out the fence situation.

Seriously...to help with any FUTURE incidents...I'd get someone to help you set up situations that are similar...and proof the problem. Work on all sorts of people on the other side of the fence...and do some LAT with new people. If you can't get anyone to help, sit by the fence with your clicker and treats, and wait for people to walk by...play some LAT.

"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw

TheRedQueen wrote:Seriously...to help with any FUTURE incidents...I'd get someone to help you set up situations that are similar...and proof the problem. Work on all sorts of people on the other side of the fence...and do some LAT with new people. If you can't get anyone to help, sit by the fence with your clicker and treats, and wait for people to walk by...play some LAT.

I have, and I do. There are kids waiting for the school bus right on the corner every morning, we see tons of strange people and dogs walking by during the day, and the LAT was a huge success w/the mail man and the UPS guy. (We actually saw a UPS truck at the vet last week, and his butt started rotating wildly... )He gets poked and prodded by strangers for chemo once a week... and he's fine w/all of that.I didn't think I'd have to "proof" the dogs in case some old guy w/a bad attitude happens to walk by... but I guess we'll have to work on that now. *sigh*

TheRedQueen wrote:Seriously...to help with any FUTURE incidents...I'd get someone to help you set up situations that are similar...and proof the problem. Work on all sorts of people on the other side of the fence...and do some LAT with new people. If you can't get anyone to help, sit by the fence with your clicker and treats, and wait for people to walk by...play some LAT.

I have, and I do. There are kids waiting for the school bus right on the corner every morning, we see tons of strange people and dogs walking by during the day, and the LAT was a huge success w/the mail man and the UPS guy. (We actually saw a UPS truck at the vet last week, and his butt started rotating wildly... )He gets poked and prodded by strangers for chemo once a week... and he's fine w/all of that.I didn't think I'd have to "proof" the dogs in case some old guy w/a bad attitude happens to walk by... but I guess we'll have to work on that now. *sigh*

Yeah, we do this in puppy class every so often...people with strange gaits, people with canes, etc. You never know what will set them off.

"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw

A tip in is a small section of fence that you attach to the top of the normal fence, but it's attached at an angle the angles in toward your yard. Does that make sense? In other words, he'd have to be Spiderman to get over it. I'll post a pic in a couple of minutes....

~Jeanine

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

HappyChick wrote:Is Sepp on Prednisone? Since this was unusual behavior for him, I wonder if he is acting differently because of Pred.

Yes, he is... but he's been on that on and off for a long time now (first for his jaw, now he gets a dose every Friday), and I don't think that has anything to do w/it.I do know that Sepp gets very vocal (and usually backs up while barking) when someone points anything directly at him (the remote, a pen, whatever)... but he has no issues with umbrellas, brooms, the vaccum cleaner and such in general. Also, he didn't seem/act aggressive... it was more like a "you better get out of here, old man" type thing, if that makes any sense. I didn't think for one second he was going to attack or bite, but I was worried about the guy getting him w/his cane, or a car hitting him. And the fact that he sat down and stayed when he saw me coming around the fence to get him, with an "awww, $hit - what did I just do???" look on his face - I'm going to assume my dog, for some unknown reason, lost his brain for a minute, and leave it at that.

For now he'll just have to suck it up and be on-lead until we get the fence fixed. It could've turned out SO much worse for him.

First, I am glad that nothing terrible happened. I agree that the old man sound antagonistic as well, but the law is the law so you have to prepare for everything. To be honest, I am not too concerned by the jumping the fence behavior just because I know you are such a diligent owner and that you will have that licked.

As for what to do in the meantime, have you ever heard of coyote rollers?

I'm not sure those would work for us. The wire mesh on our split rail extends above the wood, and Sepp didn't even come close to touching the top part... he didn't climb up the fence or use any part of it to propel himself over... do you know what I mean? He just got a really good running start and jumped.

I would love directions if you find them. I've heard of them before and have been trying to figure out how to make some for our fencing since Tru insists that are simply part of an obstacle course rather than for keeping her in one place.

What kind of fencing do you have, Dawn?I'm thinking that a really determined dog could figure out how to outsmart those rollers by climbing the fence and jumping over without touching them... unless your fence is solid, and Tru does use the top part of it to push herself off and over.

I also bet Sepp *probably* couldn't do that flying leap again if he tried... I think he surprised the hell out of himself (and me). Not taking any chances for a repeat performance... just sayin'...